Chapter 36

Harry's bright laugh carried through the air. He enjoyed the feeling of the wind ruffing through his hair, as Buttons trotted through the landscape. Paul was on another horse beside him, while Daryl had taken his bike to scout the area before them.

It was a nice and sunny day with the happy chirping of birds filling the fresh air. The three of them were scheduled to meet with Negan at the south border of their protected territory.

It had been a year and a half since the former leader of the Sanctuary had saved Harry's life, nearly losing his own in return. And while Siddiq had managed to save the man's life… what they hadn't been able to preserve, had been Negan's voice as Simon's attack had destroyed his voice box completely. So, he had taken over his new duty and punishment to scout for people and resources as a mute.

And he had proven quite good at his new job. Only a few months ago he had found and saved a group with two young boys from a bunch of walkers. He had then sent them to Alexandria's outpost. Harry could very well remember how grateful the people had been, having only praise for the mute man, who had protected them.

Rick's eyelid had started to twitch nervously as one of the small boys had loudly proclaimed Negan their Saviour. Which the young wizard had found quite hilarious to be honest. Not that he said that to his foster father. Rick would never be fond of Negan and vice versa.

Which was also the reason for their trip right now. When Negan had been (forcefully) vowed into his task, Harry had also taken up the responsibility to meet up with the man once a month, ensuring that everything was still in order. Normally he would just pop over with either Daryl or Paul but all of them had fancied a bit time just between three of them. Even if things had settled considerably in the last months, Harry knew that Daryl and Paul still needed to get away from their crowded community, stretching their legs and enjoying the freedom of the wild.

Getting also Buttons out for a ride, had been an added bonus for Harry.

It was strange to see how everything around them was slowly changing. Nature was slowly gaining back the upper hand. Streets were getting worse, bridges had started to crumbled, abandoned house were starting to vanish… It wouldn't be long before the traces, humanity had carved into the landscape, would be swallowed up.

It reminded Harry that even if humanity would have perished, life itself would have prevailed. It was a strange thought…

Daryl couldn't suppress the small grin that tugged at his lips, as much as he disliked their destination, he really enjoyed the chance to drive his bike again, using a spear to take out the occasional Walker.

There had been few of those undead fuckers in the last month… and he maybe he was wrong but were there more now?

He stopped his ride at the next crossroad, waiting up for Paul and Harry. He didn't have to wait for long before he could hear the mixture rapidly approaching hooves and gleeful laughter. Apparently, they had decided to race each other and Daryl wasn't surprised to see Harry in the lead. The wizard loved to ride as he flew on his broom: fast… and he did it really well. That he had such a strong connection to Buttons helped probably a lot, too. When Paul and Harry spotted him, waiting for them, their faces brightened further. Daryl's heart did a little leap at the sight of them, illuminated by the warm sun, laughing. He couldn't put it into words how much he treasured these moments of happiness. They all still carried the scars of the past, they always would but in moments like this it didn't matter that life had carved them up so many times.

Whatever happened to them until now, life was still so precious, because they could still feel like this.

Smile like this.

Bright and carefree.

Together they travelled the last few miles to Negan's little safe house just outside the border of the blessing. Daryl scanned the area for the asshole. Normally he was already waiting for them outside his little shed.

But today the hunter couldn't see him… Strange.

He shared a troubled look with Paul, who seemed to have noticed Negan's unusual absence as well. As much as Daryl hated to admit the former leader of the Saviours had been very reliable in all those months. Harry had already dismounted Buttons in one fluid movement, looking around curiously, while heading straight for the little cabin.

"Negan?" The green-eyed wizard called out, knocking softly on the door.

No answer.

Paul had positioned himself so that he had Daryl's back. Both of them were alert now.

Damn it!

Suddenly, there was a rustling of leaves, causing all three of them to spin around, ready to face the threat. But instead of a Walker, it was Negan, who stumbled into the meadow. Out of breath and cracked in mud, he scowled warily at them until he seemed to recognize them…

Fuck… he appeared to be downright relieved to see them. Tension noticeably bleeding out of his posture and the worry lines on his face smoothing out.

Always tall and lean, Negan had lost a bit of his bulk in the last year and the beard he was sporting, put Rick's man bush, back when then had first arrived in Alexandria, to shame. As Negan came closer, Daryl was able to see how tired and exhausted he looked. Just a month ago the man had looked well-rested and had greeted them with a cocky grin.

Harry swiftly cleaned the man up with a flick of his wand. The strained smile he offered the wizard for it, was miles away from that.

Something had obviously happened.

Negan made a few hand gestures, that translated to: ~Hello, Green Eyes. Good to see you.~

To Daryl and Paul, he offered a respectful nod each and another round of hand signs. Harry had made them all learn the basics of American Sign Language, so they could all understand Negan, if he couldn't write things down for them.

A careless ~Yo, Grumpy~ and ~Good day, your Holiness.~ were signed their way, causing Daryl to scowl darkly, while Paul did a silly little curtsy.

But the hunter held his tongue, since Negan's asshole attitude lacked all heat this time. The man was looking nervously around, obviously still very uneasy about something, and motioned them closer to the cabin.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper now. Daryl noticed that the wizard seemed also worried now.

~Yes. Had worse.~ Negan signed and after a small pause. ~Saw something strange.~

Okay…?!

"You saw something strange?" Paul asked with a frown, but equally quiet. "Like what?"

~Walkers lots of them. Moving strange~

"Huh? Aren't Walkers always walkin' strange?" Daryl grumbled, fishing out his smokes.

Negan was shaking his head, for a moment he crunched up his nose in concentration before signing something else. ~The herd didn't pass. Came back. Looking for me. Again and again. 6~

"A herd came through but didn't pass, but came back six times to look for you?!" Paul asked, his cyan eyes wide with alarm. "Walker normally never do that! What the hell?!"

Negan nodded, but he seemed to struggle to tell something else.

~Walkers whisper~

Daryl coughed, against the smoke. "What the hell man? What ya mean them Walkers whispered? Do you get high here when yer on yaown?! Those fuckers are dead! Just 'nough brain capacity ta move and eat. They can't talk!"

Negan just stubbornly stared back at him, repeating the last signs. When the hunter opened his mouth to argue back again, Harry put a slender hand to his arm.

"What did they say?" The wizard inquired with a serious expression, obviously believing Negan.

Daryl shared a look with Paul, who looked even more worried now. If Harry took this seriously…

This could only mean trouble. They certainly knew better than to dismiss the wizard's uncanny hunches. Even Negan appeared taken aback and troubled by Harry's easy acceptance of his account, although he had been the one to bring it up. But thinking back about Daryl's own encounter with that Chupacabra… well, somethings were just so damn strange and unconceivable that it was hard to trust your own eyes and ears. Never mind getting others to believe you…

That Harry was so quick to accept that Negan had encountered fucking talkingwhispering… Walkers.

Damn!

The mute scout signed something too quick to follow for Daryl, but the hunter noticed how his fingers were shaking a little bit. It was an unusual show of weakness for Negan. One that revealed just how much the situation had rattled the man.

"'Close. Don't let get away.'? Did they mean you? Did they see you?" Apparently, Paul had understood what Negan had tried to sign.

The former leader of the Saviours nodded and added another round of signs, that Daryl translated as: ~ They saw me. I run. Hide. Mud. Hear.~

So, Negan had tried to feel from the herd by hiding and covering his scent with mud. A sound method they all had used before.

"They passed you, but came back again? Six times to look for you." Harry asked softly.

The mute scout nodded gravely. ~Hear them. Searching.~

What the fuck?!

"Where have you encountered those whispering Walkers?" The wizard questioned Negan further. Daryl could tell Harry had already started to scan the woods surrounding them with slightly narrowed eyes.

Negan held three fingers up and then pointed in the direction he had just come from. The hunter had no problem understanding that. Three miles southeast from here.

Paul cursed colourfully under his breath.

Yeah… that was god damn, fucking close!

Harry had just opened his mouth, when a loud noise broke through the tense atmosphere.

Stilling they all tried to listen carefully… and yeah there was it again. Faint but unmistakable.

The shrill, terrified scream of a child.

Coming just out of the direction Negan had pointed out to them…

Before Daryl could even gather his wits, there was already movement in his peripheral vision and then Harry and Paul were already running in the direction of the screams. Still baffled Daryl turned towards Negan, who looked just as stunned, before raising one mocking eyebrow, as if to say 'What are you looking at me for, Grumpy? Are those my idiots, or yours?'

And with that and an exasperated curse on his lips, Daryl got moving to chase after his wayward boyfriends, who both suffered from something Hermione had once dubbed as a 'saving-people-thing'. To his surprise he also heard Negan running just a step or two behind him.

Weaving through the trees the four of them followed the source of the screams, hoping they wouldn't find a bunch of Walkers already feasting on the kid, when something else could be heard now… If possible, the archer ran even faster now.

Daryl remembered them well, those sounds. He had spent many nights listening to them.

Back in those months in the prison.

The soft, pitiful meowing sounds of a very small baby.

A hungry baby.

A baby, feeling cold and scared.

And they could see her, sitting on a rock. One arm cradling a squirming bundle, while the other clutched a small knife. It was a strange picture as she simultaneously tried to hush the wailing child in her arms and to fend off the hungry undead with that toothpick. Five Walkers had already surrounded her, pawing at the stone to get a piece of her and the baby. The girl whimpered, obviously scared by all the undead reaching for her.

Daryl's body worked on muscle memory alone, loading his bow before he had even made the conscious decision to do so. Harry and Paul had drawn their knives, as the first bolt hit true.

Together the four of them dealt with the undead fuckers easily enough.

Only then Daryl allowed himself to take a closer look at the girl on the rock. She was a small, waif-like thing. Hard to say how old exactly… Her lank, dark-blond hair, a dirty tangled mess, hid most of her face. But through the strands of her unkempt hair a pair of wide brown eyes stared down of them. What she wore looked more like rags than clothes, torn and caked in mud, blood and other stuff. Like a scared ally kitten, she hissed at them, uncoordinatedly swinging around her knife, when they all turn their attention on her and the baby, who was still whimpering pitifully.

"Hi, little monkey! You can climb very well, it seems. Are you hurt?" Paul chirped at her with a bright carefree smile and a silly little wave, completely ignoring of the bloody mess around them and that she was obviously trying to shoo them away.

The little girl shook her head, looking as perplexed by this hyper greeting, as Daryl felt. But then out of all of them, Paul had probably the most first-hand experience in calming, scared and distrusting little kids. Having grown up in a group home and all that.

Well, the girl seemed definitely unsure enough what to make of them, that she had forgotten to snarl at them like an angry animal. Paul had startled her out of her defensiveness. She seemed more curious, now… maybe.

"My name is Paul Rovia, but my friends used to call me Jesus." Daryl nearly rolled his eyes at the familiar, confident introduction. His hippie ninja prick even went with the same arms-wide-open gesture, as he winked at the girl.

And somehow it worked, as she let out a soft little giggle, that she covered promptly with her hands.

"Hello there, Poppet! I'm Harry. What's your name?" Harry greeted her just as brightly as Paul, making her gap at his foreign accent, but didn't offer her name in return. The slender wizard then pointed at Daryl and Negan.

"These are our friends. Daryl and Negan. Daryl is a really, really good hunter and Negan helps lost people to find new homes."

She didn't reply but the little girl was staring so transfixed at them that she forgot the to rock the baby for a moment, flinching when the little bundle grizzled at her for the lack of soothing movement.

"The little one seems to get heavy." Paul observe gently. The girl nodded, but pulled the infant even closer to her chest.

Ah, smart kiddo! Daryl had to give her that. She had relaxed a little but she was far from trusting Paul's friendliness.

"Yer arms gonna hurt soon, ya know. Ya'll drop them littl' one, then. And with you being so high up, they ain't gonna make it." Daryl grumbled roughly. No sense in sugar-coating anything.

Her small, pale face snapped around to glare mulishly at him. Her tiny mouth pressed into a fierce pout, but he could see her looking for a way to get off the rock.

Biting back a comment, Daryl smirked at Paul and Harry, who playfully rolled their eyes at him.

"May we offer some assistance, little monkey? So, you won't hurt yourself or your precious cargo in the descent."

Daryl had almost forgotten, how much of a smooth talker his cyan-eyed lover could be with his impish smiles and charming attitude.

She glanced again at Paul, obviously weighting her chances. With a nearly silent huff, she seemed to come to the conclusion that she really needed their help to get down. Sliding a little closer to the edge she allowed Negan, who was the tallest of them, to lift her and the baby off the rock. As the mute scout set her back on her feet, Harry crouched down before her, close but keeping a respectful distance.

"Hey Poppet, may I have a look at your little friend, hmm? Can you show them to me, please?" He asked very gently.

Big brown eyes peered suspiciously at the raven-haired wizard. But Harry just patiently waited, his expression open and friendly, his posture relaxed, making no move to get closer to her or taking the child from her. Finally, she turned the weakly, whimpering bundle in her arms, so that the British young man could get a good look at the child. Daryl couldn't see anything for where he stood, but that wasn't necessary, the expression on Harry's face said it all.

"Is it a boy?" The green-eyed youth asked.

"Hmmhmm." The girl hummed, holding the baby protectively in her thin arms.

"He isn't well, is he?" Sniffling pitifully, she shook her head.

Yeah, that was what Daryl had feared.

"If you want, I could try to help him. I can do some really special stuff. Sometimes it helps sick people." Harry urged softly.

The promise of help for the little guy, was apparently all she needed to hear. Big brown eyes full of hope, she handed the infant over, giving the rest of them a chance to get a clear look at the laddie as well.

Where one would expect to see healthy, rosy skin on a baby, this one was very pale, almost grey looking. His too thin arms and legs struggled to move, only managing to twitch now and again and the wails that had alerted them before, were reduced to very weak whining sounds, growing more and more quietly by the minute. Harry swiftly cast a few spells on the sickly boy, creating a soft yellow light around the frail little body, before a small piece of parchment appeared. Daryl watched his lover quickly scanning the result but instead of relaxing the wizard looked even more worried now. The hunter didn't need to ask, seeing the deep sadness in Harry's green eyes.

The little girl seemed to know it as well. Her bottom lip wobbled dangerously and big tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Can you do something for him?" Paul inquired softly, causing Harry to shake his head.

"No… I… there seems to be something wrong with his heart and lungs. I don't even know where to start. He needs someone with real medical knowledge… Healing wounds or broken bones is easier because the body wants to be whole again. I just speed along the healing process. But this… I don't know how to heal a malfunctioning hear or lung." Daryl hated seeing Harry so troubled.

Paul sighed softly before turning back to the little girl. "Is he your little brother?"

She shook her head in denial.

How strange

"Where are yer folks, kiddo?" Daryl grumbled, hoping that the herd Negan had talked about had gotten to them.

A shrug was his answer. If they hadn't heard her scream, the hunter would have started to think that she couldn't speak at all.

"Poppet, I'm sorry. I know this is scary, but we need to know if there are any other people out here, looking for you two." Harry intervened still holding the little boy.

"Mama." The little girl whispered so low Daryl wasn't sure, if he hadn't imagined it.

"Yer mam'. 's still out there?" The hunter asked briskly, as he and Negan had already turned around scanning the trees around them.

"Hmmhmm, but I not supposed to call her that anymore." She added, looking downtrodden and guilty for having told them that. Tears were threatening to roll over her cheeks.

"Why should you call her that, hmm?" Paul pressed on gently.

"'cause animals don't have names." Her answer sounded rehearsed, like something someone else had told her time and time again.

"Animals?" Harry's voice sounded strained, obviously fighting to keep his tone light and neutral.

Fuck, had told her mother was an animal? Something ugly churned in Daryl's belly… Joe and Len. Terminus… yeah, they had experience with people treating others like animals.

"Hmmhmm." The little girl hummed gravely. "Everything is gone. So, we live like before. Like animals. It makes us stronger. It makes us free. We're free. We're free." She mumbled monotonously, rocking back and forth on her feet.

Daryl shivered. That was a whole new level of fucked up shit they had just stumbled in…

And looking down at the little one in Harry's arms. Well, he was a hunter long enough to know what animal did with sickly younglings they perceived too weak to survive.

"Where does that leaves the little one?" He couldn't help but voice his thoughts.

Grave brown eyes bore into slated blue ones. "He wouldn't stop crying." She said as if that explained it all…

and maybe it did, considering how grim Negan looked and how pale Harry and Paul had gone.

Nibbling on her bottom lip, dragged the tips of her feet through the dirt. "I wasn't supposed to come here… to look for him. She's going to be mad. But he sounded so scared. I don't like to be scared." She whispered, confiding in them.

Daryl felt bile rising in his throat and his heart breaking for this brave little girl.

What a fucked up world they were living in!?

Before anyone could say anything else, Negan nudged his shoulder, gaining everyone's attention in the process. The mute scout pressed a finger against his lips, while tapping one finger against his ear.

The message was clear.

~Be silent! Listen!~

And listen, Daryl did… not liking at all what he could hear.

Groaning sounds, leaves rustling as many bodies staggered clumsily through the woods… a lot of them…

"Fuck!" Daryl cursed, as the first Walkers broke into their little meadow. There were at least 30 of them coming at them… probably more!

The little girl squeaked in fright, immediately pressing her hand to her mouth, trying to cover all sounds. Daryl threw Harry an inquisitive look, but the wizard shook his head. So fuck, that meant apparating them all out of here was out of question.

"We gotta run! Can't take them all, with them kids here." Daryl hissed at his companions. Harry, still holding the little boy, already tried to thin out the herd with one of his daggers… but he had only one hand free, which obviously restricted his movements. Negan swept the little girl up into his arms and then they were racing back to the cabin, back to their horses and to Daryl's bike.

In a mad dash they hurried through the woods, while more and more dead bodies came up from all sites, slowing them down more than either of them was comfortable with.

Why the hell were there so many of them?

Daryl and Paul tried to clear the path as much as possible, with Harry's knife cutting those down they didn't get.

By the point they left the woods, sweat and dirt covered Daryl's face, starting to burn in his eyes, while blood and gunk had begun to cover his clothes in a disgusting layer. All of them were out of breath and exhausted. From Negan's back the little girl stared at them, brown eyes full with wonder and terror.

"Please, please don't leave us." She whispered. Her voice sounded strangled with fear, as she buried her little face into the mute man's neck. Hoisting her a little higher, Negan patted her little hands in comforting gesture. Reassuring her without words, that no, they weren't going to leave the kids behind.

"Quick, to the horses and the bike. Negan take Paul's horse. Paul your riding with me on Buttons." Harry instructed sharply, but the Walkers were already much too close.

"Fuck! Get the horses and the bike ready! I hold them up a little longer." Daryl's heart took a shuddering break, when their beautiful ninja charged at the approaching Walkers.

Watching Paul fight was always breath-taking sight. Almost like a dancer, he twirled between the undead bodies, ducking out of reach of grabbing hands, using a bunch of fancy martial art tricks to kick in heads and to cut through decaying flesh.

The fighter in Daryl would always be in awe of Paul's abilities, but the part of him that held said man close at night… that part was scared to death right now. What made matters worse was that the little prick was obviously enjoying the challenge right now. Grinning proudly, as he danced away from an attacking Walker, even taking the time to turn his back on the moving corpses to check their progress with the horses.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that… as one Walker suddenly turned unusually fast and stabbed Paul from behind straight through the chest in one fluid movement.

.

.

.

Wide cyan eyes stared disbelieving down on the blade protruding from his body, before searching for his lovers. Daryl could see that Paul tried to say something, but no sound could be heard… only a thin trail of blood started to spill over his lips.

The Walker suddenly ripped the long knife out of Paul, causing his body to sag lifelessly to the ground.

Paul…

Paul…

Paul…

Oh god, Paul!

"NOOOOOO!" Harry's desperate scream tore right at the hunter's heart.

With tears blurring his vision, Daryl fired his crossbow hitting the bastard that had hurt Paul straight between the eyes.

But what had the archer's knees buckling, was the heavy pressure of the Harry's magic, that covered the area like a lead blanket. In the blink of an eye Paul's still body had been summoned to the small wizard, but the pressure had just continued to build up. The stifling feeling was almost as strong as when Harry would tap into the leylines…

Fuck! An uncanny wind ruffled through raven locks and green eyes glowed with unbelievable power. And Daryl could taste lighting and thunder in the air, that buzzed with nervous energy.

And then something just… kind of snapped.

Like a wrecking ball Harry's magic slammed into the gathered Walkers, throwing them back into trees and rocks.

The baby still cradled against his chest, their little wizard had already bent over Paul's severely bleeding body, holding his free hand over their lover's chest and chanting furiously under his breath.

"Is… is he…, Harry?" Daryl could even bring himself to say the words, his cracking voice failing him as hope and fear clashed viciously in his chest.

Determined green eyes found his. "He's still here! And I'll be damned if I let him go." Harry snarled, angry tears swimming in his beautiful eyes, before barking at Paul: "Do you hear me, you reckless idiot! You will survive this! Don't you dare to leave us like this!"

Daryl nearly jumped out of his bones when their sweet hippie ninja very slowly grabbed the wizard's hand, giving it a little squeeze and letting out a sound that had to be half chuckle, half pained cough.

"I hear your command, sweetheart." Paul rasped weakly. Overwhelming relief flooded through Daryl as Harry hunched over their brave warrior with a broken sob. But they were not out of danger, not yet… The magical attack had repelled the Walkers, buying them time to save Paul's life but it attracted also new ones. There were coming more of them by the second.

And if Daryl wasn't mistaken, he could spot at least three or five of the strange moving bastards between them.

"Harry, we need ta leave!" The hunter urged. The green-eyed wizard had followed his line of sight and nodded grimly.

"Take Paul on the bike with you. That wound… he still needs real medical care." The young Brit was obviously still very concerned about Paul's condition.

"Kingdom?" Daryl asked, trying to get his cyan-eyed boyfriend as gently as possible onto his feet. But seeing Paul wince in pain, he clearly hadn't been very successful with that. The face under the beard had a pale-greyish look to it and beads of cold sweat had gathered on his forehead.

"Kingdom." Harry confirmed with tilt of his head, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the new wave of Walkers. "It's closest and their doctor is very capable."

Strapping, the worryingly silent Babyboy to his chest, the small wizard hurried over to Buttons. Even with the bike and the horses, they were still in a bad situation.

Just when they all had managed to mount their rides, the herd was already breathing down their necks again.

"Get moving! Don't waste time trying hold them of. Just move fast." Harry pushed them forward and for a moment Daryl wanted to protest… but one look at Paul's scrunched up and painfilled expression made him keep his tongue.

"Hold on tight, darlin'. I gottcha!" He mumbled to his boyfriend, who nodded weakly, trying to get a better grip on Daryl's vest.

They hadn't come far when there seemed to be more and more Walkers swarming their tail. Negan had been right. These fuckers were persistent!

Unnaturally so for Walkers.

But sometimes Daryl tended to forget just how much of a badass, surprise-bag Harry could be. When the small statured wizard turned in the saddle, he had drawn his wand and with a grand gesture, befitting of a maestro, he shot a bright blue spell at the earth behind them.

Daryl nearly drove off the road when he saw the result in his side mirror. Behind them the ground began to surge, rocks were fucking sprouting from the earth… While very little bit of greenery seemed to grow aggressively, getting taller, thicker… bushes and trees weaving into each other, building a huge, long wall…

A hedge of thorns.

Like something out of a fairy-tale… and not the nice Disney version, no… one of the old, dark Grimm's Fairy tales, that Merle used to tell him as a kid to scare him… the kind that trapped and devoured those who dared to get too close to it. And through the noise of his bike Daryl thought he could hear someone screaming in anguish.

And without needing to ask Harry, Daryl instinctively knew, that the hedge had grown right where the border of the blessing was.

Harry had spurned his horse into a break-neck gallop, turning the ride to the Kingdom into a blur for Negan as he tried to keep up. He could see the wizard looking down at the little body strapped against his chest, again and again. The expression on his beautiful face getting grimmer each time. Where the baby had cried and squirmed before, it was now worryingly still and quiet.

The chances that the kid would make it were slim. The expression on Green Eyes' face, when he had done his voodoo hoodoo, had been a clear give away…

Really none of them could keep a half decent poker face. Hell, even the little bird had understood that the baby was a lost case. And yet Negan couldn't quite ignore the pressure in his chest, the slight hope that the slender Brit might beat the odds again and that he just might find a way to save the little infant. He was sure as hell trying, almost desperately fighting against fate, as time ran through their fingers like fine sand.

Not even speaking of the panic, the young man had to feel over his personal Messiah impersonator's health. If Negan had to guess, the only thing keeping him remotely sane and focused, right now, was the knowledge that Easy Rider had driven ahead with the injured man-bun-Jesus.

The hit he had taken… damn, even after everything Negan had seen Harry do… he still marvelled at shit like that. That sword had struck more than true. Lover boy should have been fucking dead. And yet Harry had managed to heal the worst of the damage…

The tightening of little hands on his shirt distracted the mute man, looking down he felt his lips twitching. The little girl was holding onto him for dear life, her wide brown eyes gazing at the landscape with nervous curiosity. She was a strange little thing and as fond as he was quickly getting of the gal…

The few things she had said to them… the things she had hinted at.

Fucking damn, if those things weren't rubbing his balls in all the wrong ways…

At the gates a young blond man came up the meet them.

"Oh, a knight?!" The little girl whispered in disbelieving wonder.

And in another situation, it would have been funny to see the sparkling excitement on her face when the guard of the gate came to meet them in full get-up. As it was Negan couldn't keep himself from rolling his eyes at the sight of that ridiculous plastic armour, that had obviously been a paint-ball protective gear in the old days, had to look absolutely mystical to a little girl.

"Benjamin." Harry greeted the handsome young man, offering him little more than a grim nod, but it still caused the pretty boy to blush visibly.

Interesting.

"Har… Harry, wait!" The blond stuttered in alarm. "What the hell is going on? Daryl came just through… Jesus is hurt and Daryl didn't say anything. And… and I can't… can't just let him into the Kingdom. And where did the girl come from?" He pointed to Negan and the little girl.

"Benjamin, we really don't have time for lengthy explanations, right now! I'm vouching for Negan. But if we don't hurry… the baby is in critical condition…" The green-eyed Brit snapped impatiently at the guard, who's eyes went incredibly wide, when Harry revealed the sickly infant to him. He moved promptly aside to let them through.

The tense situation would have probably called for some more demureness on Negan's part, but for the life of him, he couldn't suppress the mocking grin that stretched over his lips, when he saw how flustered dear Benjamin looked, as Harry all up jumped of his horse's back in one graceful and fluid motion. Too bad the blond knight caught his lecherous smirk and blushed even more, making the stinky eye he tried to give Negan very ineffective.

A small sting to his backside made him yelp soundlessly.

"We're not even five minutes here. Stop aggravating the locals." Harry drily reprimanded him in passing.

Buzzkill! Pouting, Negan rubbed his distinctively aching backside, while the little girl giggled at his misfortune. Not to talk about the smug looking prick in his stupid plastic armour.

With concern and tension vibrating of him in waves, the young wizard had already turned his attention back to the frail baby boy in his arms.

"Merlin, no!" Harry hissed suddenly under his breath. His already pale complexion growing completely white as he frantically fumbled with the small bundle. "No,no,no,no! Come on little one, we made it here! Come on!" The young man pleaded, his voice so full of panic and forlornness.

Negan's stomach lurched at the sight of the tiny, utterly limp body. The boy was not moving anymore… and as far as the mute man could tell, he wasn't even breathing anymore.

Harry had ripped the makeshift clothes away from the child, exposing greyish-blue skin, casting spell after spell on the deathly still baby. With cheeks streaked with salty tears, he was trying to will the tiny heart under his fingers into beating again.

The sight had bile rising in Negan's throat. A chest so small and frail that two of Harry's delicate fingers were enough for a cardiac massage. Harry worked like a madman, simultaneously doing chest compression and something that seemed to be the magical equivalent to a defibrillation.

When Negan couldn't take it anymore, the sound of Green Eyes' desperate sobs tearing unbearably at his heartstrings, the mute scout had to looked away, as the little body quivered under the force of the shocks the wizard sent through it. Not that the audio of Harry's steady chanting growing more and more hitched and tearful by the second, did anything to preserve his peace of mind.

Fucking shit!

That stubborn little lion.

He wished, that he could call out to Harry. Wished that he could reach Harry somehow… to let him know…

~It's enough, Green Eyes!~

~You've done all you could.~

~The babe's gone.~

~Let him rest!~

.

.

.

The baby was gone!?

Dead

Holy fucking shit!

The baby was dead!

Negan's eyes snapped up when the terrifying realisation hit him. Unable to speak up, he had no other choice but to throw himself at Harry.

But it was already too late…

The little boy had already opened his eyes… but instead of baby blue they were now a sickly white. Negan had just managed to grab the slender wizard by the shoulder when the child's tiny mouth latched onto the hand that had tried to reanimate it.

Fucking, dick-sucking hell!

None to gently and with a toneless shout, he ripped the idiotic, Mother Theresa of a wizard back. The blood drummed in his ears to the rhythm of his rapidly beating heart. Feeling close to a heart attack, Negan took hold of Harry's shaking hand...

He swallowed uncomfortably, when shocked green eyes finally turned to him. The mute man clutched his hunting knife in a death grip… stealing himself for the inevitable…

He had to be fast… if the infection spread…

It was just a hand…

Harry could live without it…

Negan blinked.

Where was the bite?

With great hectic he turned the slender hand in all directions. Where was the fucking bite? He had seen how the Walker baby had latched onto the hand… There had to be a bite, right?

Uncomprehendingly he stared at Harry.

"No teeth." Harry breathed out, staring back just as blankly. "He had no teeth yet…" He chuckled hysterically.

Looking down on the snarling and hissing little thing before them, Negan shuddered in horror. The sight was grotesque.

And then a knife pierced the soft skull of the Walker baby… ending its terribly short existence. Benjamin looked almost green when he pulled his blade out of the little head, obviously fighting down the urge to hurl. But he had seen the job through, Negan could respect that.

The sound of Harry's hitching breath had his old heart breaking a little when the usually bright spirted kid seemed to be crushed under an overwhelming sadness. As Harry's hysterical laugher was turning fast into wet sobs, his bottom lip trembling dangerously. The anguished cry that resounded from the young man's mouth, caused Negan to pull him into an embrace.

Feeling desperate to do something…

Anything!

To sooth some to the pain the distraught youth was experiencing right now.

All the while a part of him whispered cruelly about another child that had died in Harry's helpless arms… Yeah, he got it. The wizard's desperate need to protect an innocent life.

Clenching his own eyes tightly shut, Negan tried to fight the wetness in his own eyes off. With deep breaths he started to rock now the almost hysterical sobbing young man in his arms. To keep their shared demons at bay.

"You're crying so loud." The little girl's whisper, cut like a knife through the haze of anguish that surrounded them. She observed Harry, like he was some otherworldly, strange being.

Like she couldn't comprehend what he was doing at all.

Like she was a little bit afraid of this show of emotions.

"What?" Harry sniffed in between sobs. Her question… no her stiff surprise had rattled him all the more, as it stood in crass contrast to his compassionate response.

She had started to look around nervously. Negan knew this look… he had seen it countless times. The look of a child scared to be punished at any time.

"He isn't your baby…" She trailed off, still whispering. "He isn't yours… You're crying so loud."

Negan felt Harry shiver at her words… She sounded so confused. No child should be so… confused in the light of grief and compassion.

"I'm crying because I am sad." Harry croaked softly. "It doesn't matter that I just met either of you… I didn't want him to die."

Motionless, she stared at him out of wide brown eyes. Negan could practically see the wheels turning in the little head.

And then she came to them, her gaze solemnly fixed on Harry. Frail arms sneaked themselves around the wizard's neck in an awkward, clumsy hug.

She cried silently, Negan noticed with a lump in his throat. Her shaking shoulders the only indication that she was doing it at all. The raven-haired Brit returned her embrace with all the gentleness in the world, one hand brushing carefully through her tangled hair.

"It's alright, Poppet. It's alright. I've got you." Harry mumbled, tears still freely flowing form his eyes, simply sharing her grief.

"My name is Lydia." She whispered back.